Analysis of the bootleg
M. Zaiem Beg
preview, but that doesn't mean that you get to be spared a long post by
me. Hah! You thought you were safe, but you were wrong. Oh, were you
wrong.
Think of this as a pre-preview, since the information I'm giving today
will be quite pertinent next week. And if I'm feeling uppity, I may even
reference this very post in next week's preview. Too self-referential? The
controversy will rage on...
It is the most potent play in the Denver playbook. The Broncos establish
the run, then Jake fakes the handoff, rolls left, and hits a receiver
downfield for a big gain. Nobody is better in the NFL than Plummer when
throwing on the run. We'll look at what all has to happen when the Broncos
do run the play-action bootleg in order for it to be successful, and we'll
also look at why Plummer himself is so good at it.
Let's start with the offensive responsibilities. We'll worry about defense
in a bit. This is a weak-side play-action bootleg. That is, the play is
going to go away from the side where the tight end is lined up. We'll go
with a standard 2WR, 1TE, HB FB set in an I formation.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/base.jpg
Let's look at the responsibilities of each player and what each player
needs to do. Let's start with my favorite part of the offense, the
offensive line. At the snap, the linemen have to sell the run. If they
immediately drop back to pass block, the defense isn't going to bite and
it's going to make the play more difficult. Instead, the linemen have to
initially go as if they are run blocking. This requires good timing, as
they have to go forward and get low, then take a step backward to pass
block. The fullback, meanwhile, goes out with the quarterback and chip
blocks the defensive end, then hangs out as an outlet receiver between the
LOS and the tight end's route.
There is a variation where the right guard pulls and the fullback gives
help where the right guard was, but that's generally not how the Broncos
do it. It is, however, something you might see if a team has athletic
guards. Because of the speed of the defensive players these days, you're
not likely to see it in the NFL much. But you do see this in college an
awful lot.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg1.jpg
Now let's look at the responsibilities of the two wide receivers and the
tight end. The left wide receiver (or the play side receiver, as I'll call
him from now own) should run some sort of route that goes to the middle,
then cuts to the outside. The reason for this is that the receiver is
initially going to look like he's going towards the run so he can block
downfield (after all, you have to initially sell this as a run), then will
take advantage of the defense's motion and go the other way. Ideally, the
safety is going to run one way and then say, "Oh no! It's a pass!" and
have to turn around. This costs valuable footsteps and the receiver is
much more likely to be open.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg2.jpg
The right wide receiver (hereafter known as the backside receiver) has to
run a route to the inside, almost always a post route. The reason for this
is simple. The quarterback is rolling left. If the backside receiver
receiver doesn't come back to the middle of the field, there's no way the
quarterback can throw across his body and find the guy downfield. Well,
unless you're John Elway, but we all know he had superhuman arm strength.
But generally speaking, the receiver HAS to cut to the inside.
Similarly, the tight end needs to go inside as well, usually running a
much shallower route about 10-14 yards downfield.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg3.jpg
The halfback doesn't have to do a whole lot. He's a decoy, so he just has
to sell the run fake. You don't want the halfback to be a viable receiver,
because it means that he's open. And if he's open, then it means that
nobody bit on the run fake and nobody's trying to tackle him. And that's
bad.
The quarterback has to do several things. First, he has to play fake
effectively. That seems obvious, but it's important enough to mention
anyway. Everything that happens initially after the snap has to suggest
run. All eleven players have to do this in order for it to work
effectively. Therefore, he can't just fake the handoff and then
immediately start running. There should be a smooth rhythm. The
quarterback takes the snap, gets to the "handoff" quickly, then acts for a
second as if it's a running play, then he takes off to the left.
When he runs left, he will have to run far enough behind the line of
scrimmage that he'll have enough room to square his hips and get an
accurate throw. If the quarterback is running sideways when he releases,
the throw will be less accurate. If his body is facing a different
direction than where his receiver is, it will be less accurate. Most
quarterbacks will stop for a second and set their feet and throw
downfield, but that's not necessary as long as your hips are pointing in
the right direction. That's why Jake can throw on the run without setting
his feet -- he can turn his hips very quickly and square up before
throwing. Ideally you want to be running toward your receiver, but in the
NFL when it's raining linebackers and there are guys in your face, that's
not always an option.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg4.jpg
But let's get back to getting distance behind the line of scrimmage. If
he's too close to the LOS, it's more likely a defender will be in his face
and he'll be forced to throw the ball without having the time to square
up. That's no good. By this time you should be able to see that the left
guard is there to give the quarterback more time to throw the ball.
So let's sum up and see everyone's responsibilities.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg5.jpg
Now let's throw in the defense. Let's go back to the pre-snap formation
for a second. The defense in this case is in a standard 4-3 defense with
four linemen and three linebackers (hence the 4-3). W means Weakside
linebacker, M means Middle linebacker, S means Strongside linebacker, and
E is defensive End. Presumably the play-action pass is going to work when
the running game is going, so the strong safety is cheating toward the
line of scrimmage. Mwahaha. The fool!
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/basedef.jpg
Now look at what should happen when the play-action pass is executed
properly.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg6.jpg
We've seen it so many times. The entire defense goes one way and Jake is
left wide open as he's running left. They are so freaked out by the
running game that they seem to forget about the possibility of a pass
entirely. And now we can see the positioning of the various players
several seconds after the snap if everything is executed correctly on
offense, which puts the offense in a great situation.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg7.jpg
But not everything always goes right on every play. Let's take a look what
happens if they don't execute well.
Now let's look at the backside receiver. Initially, he's going to make
like he's run blocking, then take off and run his post route. Let's start
off when the cornerback is lined straight up against the receiver. The
cornerback should move to the inside since he thinks it's run, which lets
the receiver get a release to the outside. If the cornerback is lined up
to the inside, then the effect is more drastic.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/backside1.jpg
If the cornerback is lined up to the outside, then the receiver still run
blocks but releases to the inside. But since the cornerback is moving in
the same direction as where the WR is, there's a better chance that the
cornerback will slow down the receiver's release, especially if that
receiver has a hard time getting off the line (like Ashley Lelie). But if
that receiver can get a good release, then the cornerback is now a step
behind the receiver and he can get open. He's not the primary or secondary
receiver on this play, but his route is so deep that if he does get open
and the quarterback sees him, you're talking some major yardage.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/backside2.jpg
The tight end is usually the primary receiver because he's the most likely
to be open. Moving across the formation is generally one of the best ways
to get open anyway, and with the defense moving to the right and the tight
end moving left, that works in his favor. But the same things apply when
he releases as well. If the defender is on his inside or lined straight up
against the tight end, the tight end should go to the outside and the come
back across the middle. If he's on the outside, then the tight end should
take a step as if he's blocking, then move back inside.
Last, let's look at the quarterback. It's very important that he gets
enough distance between him and the line of scrimmage, allowing him to
throw the ball accurately.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/quarterback1.jpg
But all too often I see bad quarterbacks run too close to the line of
scrimmage due to poor footwork, which results in the quarterback having to
make an awkward throw to the receiver.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/quarterback2.jpg
This is an excellent example of how proper footwork and good mechanics
leads to accuracy. Jake's mechanics on some of his throws aren't ideal,
but no quarterback is more fundementally solid on the bootleg than
Plummer. He has what scouts call "fluid hips", i.e. he can turn quickly
and change the direction of his body without having to slow down
significantly. It's a term more often used for cornerbacks and receivers,
but hips are still important for quarterbacks when they are throwing on
the run (or really anyone if they are engaging in some motion where they
are running in X direction, then need to change directions while losing
as little speed as possible. Hips are the most important part of that
motion.)
Now let's look at the fullback. There are two things to take into account
here. Number one is that the fullback has to make sure the defensive end
doesn't get a clear path at the quarterback. It's not an all-out block
(unless the DE didn't bite on the play fake and is headed towards the QB),
but he is supposed to slow the defensive end down. If he doesn't, the end
will make life very bad.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/fullback1.jpg
The other thing is that the fullback has to take the proper angle when
he's running his route after chip blocking the defensive end. Remember,
he's the last resort. So he's there in case things don't go well. In this
picture, the quarterback was looking at the wide receiver but the
cornerback was too close. With pressure coming, he has the fullback in
front of him for the quick throw.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/fullback2.jpg
But if he runs too fast and gets too close to the sideline, the
quarterback will have to turn to throw to the fullback, which makes the
throw harder.
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/fullback3.jpg
Notice what's going on with this last bit here. It's not just the
playcalling. I've diagrammed only one play. But how many different things
have I pointed out that could go wrong? Playcalling is important, but the
greatest plays in the world don't matter one whit if you don't execute
them properly. Execution is huge. Just huge.
So that's how the weakside play-action bootleg works in general. I say in
general because there are many ways you can run variations and vary the
routes. The Broncos like to run a variation where the fullback (Kyle
Johnson now, though Howard Griffith also did this when he was around)
goes farther downfield and the tight end stays closer to the middle of
the field. You can run a slant with the backside receiver. You can do all
sorts of things. But those are the essential components of the weakside
play-action fake, particularly how the Broncos like to run it. So the
next time the Broncos run it (next week), you'll hopefully be able to see
some things you may not have noticed before.
--
M. Zaiem Beg zb...@iglou.com
Fred Waiss, Sr.
"M. Zaiem Beg" <zb...@iglou.com> wrote in message
news:Pine.GSO.4.33.0601080408180.16670-100000@shell1...
put a lot of time into this and really want it to be accurate, I must point out
one thing: The route of the QB should be more like a hook. He must take a full
step to his right with his left foot. This is necessary to meet the HB in the
same way he actually does for a real run in order to sell the run to the D.
Also, by taking that step to his right, he is forced to bow out away from the
los as he turns to his right (since his back is now to the los) and then runs to
the left of the formation. This initial step to the right which forces the
hook-like line of hid progress also helps him get the distance behind the los
that is optimal for the play.
......................FW
WOW! The NFL should give you a job writing a weekly (or monthly or whatever)
column for the fans. Especially the cheerleaders.
Thanks, MZB. As usual, very well done.
Brent Wiescamp
"M. Zaiem Beg" <zb...@iglou.com> wrote in message
news:Pine.GSO.4.33.0601080408180.16670-100000@shell1...
> preview, but that doesn't mean that you get to be spared a long post by
> me. Hah! You thought you were safe, but you were wrong. Oh, were you
> wrong.
>
LOL! Geezo pete, man! I'm feelin' all edumacated now. Thanks for that. I'll
be going back and forth throught this until I get it right!
M. Zaiem Beg
->http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/bootleg/bootleg4.jpg
->
->But let's get back to getting distance behind the line of scrimmage. If
->he's too close to the LOS, it's more likely a defender will be in his face
->and he'll be forced to throw the ball without having the time to square
->up. That's no good. By this time you should be able to see that the left
->guard is there to give the quarterback more time to throw the ball.
Oops. By "left guard" I mean "fullback." The left guard is also there to
give the QB more time to throw the ball, but that's not what I was going
for.
M. Zaiem Beg
-> I hate to be picky over such a minor thing, but since it's obvious you
->put a lot of time into this and really want it to be accurate, I must point out
->one thing: The route of the QB should be more like a hook. He must take a full
->step to his right with his left foot. This is necessary to meet the HB in the
->same way he actually does for a real run in order to sell the run to the D.
->Also, by taking that step to his right, he is forced to bow out away from the
->los as he turns to his right (since his back is now to the los) and then runs to
->the left of the formation. This initial step to the right which forces the
->hook-like line of hid progress also helps him get the distance behind the los
->that is optimal for the play.
How foolish of me! Thanks for pointing out that oversight, and no -- I
don't think it's minor. That is actually why the bootleg has been one of
my favorite plays. Not just because it's fun to see the defense get
totally fooled, but because it takes some serious cojones by the
quarterback. He has to turn his back on the defense while still holding
the ball. Better trust your blockers. (Reason #472572 why football is a
team sport.)
<snip>
-> WOW! The NFL should give you a job writing a weekly (or monthly or whatever)
->column for the fans. Especially the cheerleaders.
A few years ago I actually interviewed for a job like that. It was
when NFL.com had a deal with ESPN, so I interviewed with ESPN -- the
office was even in Seattle, so I wouldn't have to move. It wasn't anything
fancy at first -- just some fantasy features here and there, but as you
got more time and whatnot, they'd move you in to more feature writing and
things. Pretty cool, even though I didn't get the job. But at least I can
say I interviewed with ESP freaking N (despite the fact that I -- I can't
believe I did this -- misspelled "Cincinnati" in my writing sample).
-> Thanks, MZB. As usual, very well done.
The pleasure is mine.
Fred Waiss, Sr.
squamish}.